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October 6, 2008

NRA Leadership Still Selling Hunters Down the River

by Sam Savage

To: POLITICAL EDITORS

Contact: John Robinson, Chief of Staff, American Hunters and Shooters Association, (c) +1-202-262-3252

BETHESDA, Md., Oct. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new analysis by American Hunters and Shooters Association (ASHA) of the 2008 grades and endorsements the National Rifle Association (NRA) released over the weekend, show that the NRA continues to overwhelmingly support Members of Congress who have terrible records when it comes to protecting the environment.

In the 2008 ratings, the NRA gave an average "A" rating to the 161 House Members who have poor conservation records -- a score of 25 or below from the League of Conservation Voters -- and an average rating of a "D" to the 210 House Members with strong records on environmental conservation -- 75 or above from the League of Conservation Voters. The NRA gave an average rating of an "A" to the 10 Senators who are running for re-election with poor conservation records and an average rating of a "D-minus" to the 6 Senators who are running for re-election with strong conservation records.

"The ratings and endorsements NRA released over the weekend confirm what American Hunters and Shooters first reported a month ago: the NRA leadership overwhelmingly supports Members of Congress who put the interests of Washington corporate lobbyists ahead of the interests that hunters and sportsman have in protecting America's public lands," said AHSA President Ray Schoenke. "It's time for gun owners, hunters, and all Americans to repudiate the NRA's slash and burn culture war politics and join the movement to protect our gun rights and the lands we love -- and do it in a way that unites Americans instead of dividing them."

Schoenke added: "That's why we give them an F."

AHSA released today a supplement to a report it released in August: "SLASH AND BURN: Why Does the National Rifle Association Support Congress's Biggest Opponents of Conservation?" The report shows that NRA's political campaign money and endorsements have dramatically favored Washington's biggest opponents of wilderness conservation on issues ranging from protecting public hunting lands from corporate development to acknowledging the real danger that climate change presents for the great American outdoors. To read the full Slash and Burn Report and see data on NRA campaign contributions to conservation opponents please visit:http:// www.realhuntersrealconservation.org/analysis.php.